a b s t r a c t
Solid waste management (SWM) has become an issue of increasing global concern as urban populations
continue to rise and consumption patterns change. The health and environmental implications associated
with SWM are mounting in urgency, particularly in the context of developing countries. While systems
analyses largely targeting well-defined, engineered systems have been used to help SWM agencies in
industrialized countries since the 1960s, collection and removal dominate the SWM sector in developing
countries. This review contrasts the history and current paradigms of SWM practices and policies in
industrialized countries with the current challenges and complexities faced in developing country
SWM. In industrialized countries, public health, environment, resource scarcity, climate change, and public
awareness and participation have acted as SWM drivers towards the current paradigm of integrated
SWM. However, urbanization, inequality, and economic growth; cultural and socio-economic aspects;
policy, governance, and institutional issues; and international influences have complicated SWM in
developing countries. This has limited the applicability of approaches that were successful along the
SWM development trajectories of industrialized countries. This review demonstrates the importance of
founding new SWM approaches for developing country contexts in post-normal science and complex,
adaptive systems thinking.